- Conference
- 2023 National Women's Conference
- Date
- 14 October 2022
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes that a number of motions were passed at National Delegate Conference in 2022 on Violence Against Women.
Too many public bodies are moving towards having an all encompassing fair treatment at work policy rather than individual polices focusing on specific issues like sexual harassment, racial discrimination etc. where the voices of marginalised groups are lost through merging them under the equality banner.
Our employers cannot continue to get away with ignoring both the specific needs of women in the workplace or the intersectionality issues faced by marginalised groups.
The City of Edinburgh Council has spent in the region of £2million on an inquiry after harbouring, enabling and protecting a serial sexual abuser of women at work and at home and colluding with senior managers to protect the abuser from facing action.
The response from CEC is to change behaviours and culture but alongside this a refusal to implement a sexual harassment policy.
The City of Edinburgh Branch would like the National Women’s Committee to progress:
1. Raising the profile of what sexual harassment is and the different ways it can impact people in the workplace
2. Encouraging Equality and Women’s Officers within branches to negotiate and roll out a sexual harassment policy for the employers covered by their branch and ensure that it includes references to the specific needs of women, both cis and trans, and the specific needs of other marginalised groups with a focus on intersectionality.